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Register of safety risks

Booking Service Providers must establish and maintain a register of safety risks associated with the provision of commercial passenger vehicle services from 1 March 2019.

About risk registers

Operating with risk is a reality for any business. Risks can be generated from within a business or from external circumstances. The register of safety risks is a tool for documenting risks and any actions taken to manage those risks.

Understanding risk and how to minimise its impacts is essential to ensuring an effective safety risk register. By analysing existing and potential risks, Booking Service Providers can assess their impact and identify which ones are highest priority. From there, they can create a plan to respond to the risks that need attention. This is a core part of every businesses’ risk management process.

What to include in a register of safety risks

While the register should be in a format that best suits the Booking Service Provider, at a minimum the regulations state that the register must contain:

  • information about the risk identified with a clear description of the hazards which contribute to the risk
  • an outline of the action taken to minimise or eliminate the risk
  • the person/s responsible for acting in the particular circumstance.

Managing safety risks in your business requires understanding how your business operates. This means understanding what the essential ingredients are that make your business operate smoothly and successfully.

An effective register should also contain:

  • a unique identifier for the risk
  • the date the risk was identified
  • a description of the risk including identification, circumstances and contributing factors (for example, there is a risk that X will occur because of Y. If this occurs, it will result in Z
  • the likelihood of the risk—for example, recorded as likelihood of 1 to 5 or a likelihood of low, medium or high
  • the impact(s) if the risk occurs (the level of seriousness of the risk)
  • the severity of the risk (likelihood multiplied by impact)
  • actions that can be taken to reduce the likelihood of risk occurring
  • the person responsible for managing the risk
  • contingencies that can be taken if the risk does occur—these are usually structured to reduce harm
  • a progress update on actions taken to reduce the likelihood of risk
  • the status of the entry, example: open, closed, waiting for decision, in progress etc.

Review point

The register of safety risks must be reviewed annually and where necessary, revised at regular intervals depending on the level of risk identified. This will ensure appropriate steps can be taken to reduce risks so far as is reasonably practicable.

Getting everyone on board with risk

The establishment of the register of safety risks should be accompanied by training and information for drivers and other staff about how to identify risks, and who, when and how to report those risks.

Booking Service Providers should also provide training or instruction to staff who receive reports from drivers to ensure information has been accurately recorded.

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